Green Rubber Bands
by olimakiella
Summary: Ron and Harry’s friendship is tested when Ron finds something he really shouldn’t have been looking for.


Title: Green Rubber Bands  
Author: **olimakiella  
Rating: R  
Pairing: H/D  
Words: 5140  
Warnings: This is H/D slash. No likey no readey. Contains male/male sex. Characters are of legal age**

Summary: Ron and Harry's friendship is tested when Ron finds out something he really shouldn't have been looking for.  
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

---

Ron wasn't exactly what you would call the most polished broom in the shed. His better work came mainly from those last minute essays he did late at night with Hermione's help and concluding paragraphs. He didn't know everything, but he knew when there was something going on with his friends. Harry had been distant lately. He daydreamed in classes, zoned out at lunch time and had even become lax in his drills for Quidditch practice. Not that the team had minded their resident drill sergeant easing up a bit, mind you. If that wasn't bad enough, he was always in detention. When he wasn't, he still got in later than everyone else wearing a goofy smile, extra crooked hair and a green rubber band on his right wrist.

"Mate, are you starting another collection, or something?" Ron said as he stared at the pile on Harry's beside table. He knew they'd be gone soon. It was the end of the month and, for the past three months, they always disappeared on the last weekend only to pile up there again. No one bothered asking for one anymore. He never said yes. Harry smiled.

"Not really, I'm gonna throw them away anyway." He seemed to finish a point on his essay. He blew on it and rolled it up stashing it into his draw. "Night, Ron."

Ron watched as his friend disappeared under his quilt and sighed. "Yeah, goodnight, mate."

---

"I will say this again, I do not approve of this," Hermione said nevertheless letting Ron bustle her along under the invisibility cloak.

"Shush," he hissed and covered her mouth as he heard footsteps. He checked the map he'd sprung from Harry's trunk seeing the footsteps of Draco Malfoy approaching. The urge to do something to the pompous git was overwhelming but he tempered it. They'd already lost Harry twice and didn't have time for anything else. Besides, Hermione _didn't approve_. They both stood still and watched the blond pass, his robe crisp and clean and his hair pulled back in a ponytail. Ron had had endless fun comparing the prat to his father. It never failed to perturb the arsehole, whose father had been sent to Azkaban a few months ago following Voldemort's death. The last two months though, it didn't seem to bother him. He always responded with some cryptic answer that left Ron confused, Hermione intrigued and Harry blushing.

Once the git had passed, Ron traced the map for Harry's name. He vaguely registered Malfoy turning the corner, walking a little before he stopped against a wall.

"There," Hermione said pointing to the opposite end of the corridor Malfoy had stopped in.

Ron sensed some kind of confrontation. Tonight was one of the rare nights where Harry didn't have detention. Malfoy was Head Boy and Harry was out after hours. They quietly crept to the corner and peeped into the corridor. It was lit only with two or three wall torches but they could see that Malfoy was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. His eyes narrowed at Harry as he approached. Ron took out his wand just in case but Hermione, nevertheless, grabbed his hand to stop him from doing anything stupid.

Both of them froze, however, when Malfoy broke out into a smile as Harry walked up closer to him.

"You're late," he said not sounding as if he cared one way or the other.

Harry looked as if he knew it. "Sorry," he said anyway. His hand reached up, the back of his fingers skimming the skin of Malfoy's cheek. Malfoy leaned into it, his eyes closing, and Harry's hand continued its journey into his hair. His thumb hooked into the band and pulled. The fluid motion hinted familiarity with the action and when Ron saw the green rubber band slide onto Harry's right wrist, his mouth went slack and he felt like fainting. "Oh fucking Merlin," he whispered and began backing up shaking his head left and right in denial. Hermione, who was holding onto his arm, got pulled back with him, her eyes open wide in shock when Harry leaned forward slowly and kissed the blond breathless. When Malfoy moaned, she gasped and Ron had enough sense in him to cover her mouth before anything else slipped out. Harry may have been spaced out lately, but Ron knew that when he snuck out, he had the ears of a wolf.

Sure enough, the kiss broke abruptly and Harry's head snapped in their direction. Ron and Hermione froze, though they knew he couldn't see them. Harry's forehead creased minutely when he didn't see anything but, slowly, they narrowed, his hand creeping down to grasp hold of Malfoy's hand.

"Come on, we're leaving," Harry said and tugged on Draco's hand.

"Did you hear something?" He fell silent when Harry nodded and followed him up the corridor, looking back to catch a glimpse of what Harry saw. He gave up when he didn't see anything.

Ron and Hermione watched them walk along the corridor. They waited until they'd turned a corner before Ron took his hand off her mouth.

"What-" Ron sounded breathless. Confused. And angry. "What... _the fuck_ did I just see?"

"Ron shh!" Hermione said looking up the hall. She wouldn't put it past Harry to stop at the end and listen in to confirm his suspicions.

"Shh!" he mocked, mimicking her. "Shh! Don't shh me! My best friend is-" he made a gagging face. "_making out_ with that piece of shit and I'm supposed to lie back and take it?" He looked at her. When all Hermione did was stop and look back at him, disbelieving her ears, his face grew solemn. "No." He tore off the cloak and walked off.

Hermione leaned up against the wall with the map in her hands. She stared up one end of the corridor before turning her face to the other end. "You don't have to do anything, Ronald, it's not your life."

The next morning at breakfast was not a good one for anybody.

Well... anyone who was Ronald Weasley anyway.

He chewed savagely on his sausages and gulped down his juice as if he couldn't stand the sight of it in the glass. He didn't speak, he didn't look around, he just sat and ate. Hermione watched him from the corner of her eye, going about her morning routine as if Thursday was just another day of the week and not the morning after she found out her best friend was not all he led her to be. She knew Harry wouldn't be happy with them sneaking around and spying on him and, though she was concerned, she also knew that he had been hiding for a reason. If he wasn't ready to talk about it, she wasn't ready to deal with the aftermath when he was pushed. She frowned at Ronald and then looked at Harry who was watching her and shrugged as if she hadn't a clue what was wrong with him.

Harry, now off her scent, singled in on Ron and Hermione saw another side of her friend that she never thought she'd see.

The Slytherin side.

Harry was trying hard not to keep a smile off his face. "You okay, mate?"

Ron looked up at the first human of his day. "_What?_"

Harry shrugged and took a sip of his juice. "Well, you seem upset. I just wondered if you were okay." He went back to eating. "Rough night?" he said around a spoonful of cereal. He was looking at Hermione though. Hermione blushed at what he may have been implying.

"Harold Potter you take that back!" she said with a shocked grin. He waggled his eyebrows at her and laughed.

Harry swallowed his mouthful. "My name's not Harold, 'Mione."

"It is when you're being stupid!" she said and held up her fork, pointing at him in warning.

He laughed. "Nope not stupid either." He stretched his arm out to bat her fork away.

Ron, who up to that point had been staring at them both playfully fighting in reserved anger, blew up suddenly as he noticed the ring of green on Harry's right wrist. His eyes snapped across the hall and he saw the red inducing vision of Malfoy sitting with his house mates, his hair uncharacteristically dispersed around his shoulders. His fists banged loudly on the table.

"The hell you are!"

The two friends both turned, along with those in hearing distance, to Ron who had gone red at the ears. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ronald, calm down."

"Oh," he said derisively, "'calm down', don't you tell me to fucking calm down when he's fucking up his life like this." The table gasped, not at his language, but because he had the balls to say it so loud at breakfast with so many teachers nearby.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, you watch your language this instant!" Professor McGonagall, who had been passing their table at the time, glared at him over her glasses. Ron turned his glare to her and kept it up until he backed down under her stare. "Five points from Gryffindor," she said sternly at his audacity. Ron nodded and watched her leave silently ignoring the angry stares of his house mates.

"You followed me," he heard quietly. He turned to Harry and the glare and anger came right back. "I knew it, I knew I heard something. Why were you following me?" Harry said angrily now that he had his answers.

Ron huffed. "I was _looking out_ for you. You were acting weird and I didn't know what was wrong with you!"

Harry nodded sussing it out. He laughed mockingly. "I assume you used my map and my cloak?"

Ron looked at him in an obvious manner. "Of course I did, how else could I find you?"

Harry just scoffed. "So, instead of _asking_ me what was wrong, you _break_ the locking spell on my trunk, _steal_ my belongings and _disregard_ my privacy all so you can follow me around and get angry at me for – _what_, exactly?" He waited with his eyes narrowed.

Ron's mouth opened in disbelief. "_Ask you_? Ask- you wouldn't have told me the truth _anyway_, not if _that_ was what you were hiding!"

Harry stood up, his eyes narrowed to slits. Ron stood up too, defensively. Hermione looked between the two of them and bit her lip. "I guess you'll never know now, will you?" he said quietly and walked off out of the dining hall. The quiet of his tone was worse than the yelling and everyone turned to look at Ron standing alone.

Ron watched him and then fumed, "Don't you walk away from me!" and stormed after him. The entire hall watched them. The Gryffindor table swivelled to stare at Hermione.

"Aren't you going after them?" Neville asked her.

Hermione looked to him and then to the rest of them. "Why? It has nothing to do with me. Ron's being stupid, as is Harry. If they want sense, they'll knock it into each other eventually."

---

It was an uneasy week. Final classes were brutal, Quidditch season was in full swing and the Gryffindors were beginning to appreciate their regular drill sergeant/Quidditch captain, Harry, because angry, in a fight with his best friend, drill sergeant/Quidditch Captain, Harry, was _evil_.

"I can't walk, I can't walk. Ginny, hold me." Seamus fell onto the bench anyway because Ginny was on the other side of the locker room.

Dean walked trepidly into the locker room and sat, _very slowly_ on the bench next to his dorm mate leaving whimpers in his wake. "We need to fix this. I can't do this anymore. I don't sleep because they argue, we can't eat a meal without their arguing, we can't study without their arguing. Hermione even hates them because they got us banned from the library with the fight they had in there yesterday, so she won't help us."

"Yeah exams are in a week. They did that at a bad time. She won't even speak to them and she was their common ground."

Dean looked around from his position on the bench. "Where is Harry anyway? He didn't come in with the rest of us."

"No, he said he didn't want to be around Ron right now. He went straight up to the school. I think he said something about the Prefect's baths."

"He gets into the Prefect's baths?" Dean shook his head. "Lucky bastard. But then, Ron uses them as well, don't he? Being with Hermione and all."

Seamus snorted. "Not lately though. He's had to slum it with the rest of us." He laughed knowing Ron and Hermione were not on speaking terms.

Speaking of Ron, he stormed into the room, threw down his broom, stripped off grabbing a towel and went straight to the showers. Seamus was grinning still having his theory proven true. No one spoke, not even when they too took a shower and dressed. Fifteen minutes later, Ron stormed back out of the locker rooms again not bothering to wait for anyone.

Dean took his eyes away from the entrance sitting with a towel around his waist. "Yes, we definitely need this fixing." He told Seamus, who winced as he pulled on his jumper.

---

Draco ran a hand through the wet hair plastered down on Harry's head. "I wish I could say something good here but I never actually liked the guy."

Harry smiled and looked up at the blond. They were sitting wrapped around each other in the Prefect's bath, shoulder deep in bubbles and steaming hot water. "I know. He's just so _stubborn_. We're fighting all the time and now Hermione won't talk to me because we got her banned from the library. She has to get books through favours from the Ravenclaws." He sighed. "It's hopeless." His head fell forward and landed on Draco's shoulder. He felt a hand sift through his hair and relaxed into it letting his hands drop further down into the hot water sliding against the blond's skin. Draco's legs tightened around him and he sighed again. This was the best he'd felt all day. "This whole week has been shit."

Draco chuckled. "All of it?" He could feel the smile forming against his shoulder. "That's what I thought." He pulled the brunet's head up and held the face in front of him. He stared at the black eye set on his face from the fight in the library yesterday and sighed. Madame Pomphrey refused to heal their injuries anymore and forbade any of their friends to do it too. "It'll work out, Harry. It has to eventually. The guy is your best friend. He's been your best friend for seven years. That's got to count for something." He grinned then, dropping his arms back into the water. "If not, you're _more_ than welcome to come stay with me." Harry laughed. "Oh, see? _There's_ the laugh I've been craving for all day. It's been a while." Harry held him tighter and buried his face in Draco's neck, loving how he smelled, how he tasted there. "Thank you."

He brought his head up to look him in the eye, seeing a face of concern. Harry kissed the corner of Draco's lips and pulled his arms out of the water. "Thank you," he said again quietly against his skin. Tilting his head to the side, he parted his lips and nudged Draco's bottom lip with his own placing those arms around his shoulders. When Draco leaned in to kiss him fully, he moaned under the onslaught of Harry's lips and tongue as they tangled together in his mouth.

Harry's hands rose out of the water and brushed through Draco's hair, his thumb hooking into the band that held it up and out of the water. The blond had told him he couldn't afford to get it wet because he was running low on gel and his final allowance since he'd been disowned two months ago. Apparently, without it, his hair stayed in its natural form, like his mother's hair with its shallow waves. Harry didn't care though because, truthfully, he liked it that way, even if Draco hated it. Spreading his fingers wide to slip it onto his wrist, he brushed his hands through it again following the strands that had spilled out over Draco's shoulders, down into the soapy water.

"I hope you know you shall be buying me a new bottle of gel post-haste," he suddenly heard in his ear. Harry smiled conspiratorially and his hands then traversed the vertebrae of Draco's spine. He then felt his boyfriend shiver in the water pressing his body against Harry as tight as he could likely forgetting all about his hair. He jumped slightly when Harry reached behind him, working him open slowly with his fingers and the bath gel that lay on the tiled rim of the bath. Steadily preparing his boyfriend, he rested his head back in the juncture of neck and shoulder to listen to his reactions. It was Draco's frustrated hands that finally moved them; Harry could have listened to those breathy moans all night.

After hastily applying the bath gel he'd brought to meet Harry after his practice, Draco murmured something incoherent as he slid down Harry's shaft and settled there, impaled on his cock as Harry's hands settled around his waist. "Fuck, _yes_," he said and sighed at the full feeling.

"So tight... hot," Harry murmured, pulling Draco forward a little and cupping his arsecheek. The downward force of Draco's weight helped add power to Harry's upward thrusts and Harry felt his panting moans from his position at his collar bone. He privately smiled at them feeling the jump in his pulse as his kisses rose to Draco's throat and collar bone. He changed his angle and thrust hard. "Oh, Harry... more!" Draco cried and buried his head into his shoulder to shield any further outbursts, the ends of his hair soaked through, sticking to his back and shoulders. More thrusts honed in on that area caused him to clench down on Harry's member, yet squirm to relieve the pressure, and Harry groaned in pleasure feeling the tight pulls on his cock.

Their tongues flicked out at each other and Harry pushed his into Draco's mouth suddenly, causing the blond to moan over and over again as he hugged Harry closer, lost to the sensations he felt under the hot water. "You feel good…" Harry said, thrusting deeper again, his hips moving faster. His fingers kept running over the length of Draco's cock stroking, grasping, and teasing. It was driving the blond crazy. Draco reached up and ran his hands through the wet messy black tangles of Harry's hair, cupping his face in his hands when Harry's mouth found his again. When he climaxed, dark spots appeared in his vision and he had to pull away before he bit off Harry's lip.

"_Fuck!_" he groaned riding it out and squirming as Harry thrust harder, hitting his prostate mercilessly as he came just as hard as Draco did. They gripped each other tightly, anywhere and everywhere, to seek purchase to _something_ to keep them anchored.

They sat still in the water for a while longer, letting their breaths even out and return to normal. Draco spoke first. "It will work out, you know that, right?" His hands ran through the damp hair once more, loving the thickness of it and how it felt through is fingers.

Harry sighed and nodded slowly, not really believing it. After all, he _knew_ Ron. He was not one to let things go easily.

---

"Sit." Neville stood over him, glaring at him, something in and of itself that caused him to pause. He sat down. "Good. Now, we've had it. And if I'm acting this way, you know exactly how much we have had it. We're sick and tired of this fighting. It's getting old, Ron, and not only is it splitting us apart but it's affected Hermione who stays with all the girls, who some of us happen to be dating. Lavender refuses to talk to Seamus until we get this settled because Hermione is driving them crazy. And since it's both yours and Harry's fault that she's acting this way, we have to fix it so that _we_ can get some peace. I'm not affected as much because I'm not dating anyone here."

"Lucky bastard."

"Not so if you count that fact he's with Parkinson," Seamus laughed.

Ron's gaze snapped to Neville's who was watching him. Neville nodded once and Ron sighed falling back to lie down on his bed. "Merlin, I'm surrounded by defectors." He covered his face with his hands and sighed loudly.

"Ron. You're over-reacting. It's not so bad."

"Says you." Ron ignored the confused looks the rest of the dorm was giving them.

"Look," Dean said. "I get the feeling you guys are talking about something the rest of us don't know about. You also don't seem to be sharing and that's fine, I don't care. I just want this mess settled. It's driving us mad, losing us house points and _I'm not getting laid!_" That last part was the most important.

"He's your best friend, Ron. Believe me that matters. You know it and so does he." When Ron snorted Neville hit him upside the head. "School ends in two weeks. Think about that. If you don't resolve this now, it could be that you never do. It will hang over your heads as something that will soil your last memories of school, no one wants that. If given a choice I don't think either of you would want to give up on being friends, am I right?" Ron hung his head and nodded. "As his friend, I assume you want him to be happy, no matter how he finds that happiness and how much you disagree with his methods?" Ron nodded again. "Good. Now all you need to do is initiate the making up stage and we'll all be happy."

Ron's head snapped up. "Why me?"

"Mate," Seamus began, "I think that's obvious. From the first argument we heard at breakfast last week you were the one to sneak around behind his back to spy on him, then yell at him over what you found out which was obviously none of your business. It was kind of uncalled for."

"You've got a temper, Ron. We all know it. Obviously Harry knows it too because he was hiding whatever it was from you that obviously meant something to him because he knew you'd react badly and hate him for it." Dean smiled. "I think he knows you pretty well. He's been upset for the last few days. Both of you have been even worse since you got Hermione mad."

Seamus laughed. "Now all of us are suffering because Hermione is mad."

Ron cracked a small smile. "I wouldn't have a clue how to approach him if I wanted to." He shook his head. "I wouldn't know what to say."

Neville nodded, pleased they'd all gotten through to him and sat next to his friend on the bed. "You don't have to say anything, use a gesture of good faith or something, to prove you're moving past it and want him on the same level as you." Neville shrugged. Dean and Seamus smiled at him when he looked around to them for reassurance. They nodded. He stood up and walked to the door.

"Where you going, mate?" Seamus said from his perch on the dresser.

Ron turned to look at them with his hand on the doorknob. "I just need to think on it for a while, I'll be back soon."

---

"Your hair is fine, Draco." Harry rolled his eyes at him as they walked toward the train. Exams were over and so was school. The graduation ceremony had gone on without a problem and everyone was walking down the platform at Hogsmeade to get on the train. Everyone was staring at Harry and Draco as they walked together. Harry knew it was because they were actually walking _together_, Draco however thought it was because of his hair. It might have been a combination of the two. The blond had used the last of his hair gel at the graduation ceremony and, because he didn't have much money anymore, he'd had to rely on Harry in that area, though he hated it with a passion and let him know.

Often.

Harry, as punishment, had refused to buy him any until he apologised. Hence, the shallow waves in the blond's hair. He couldn't even pull it straight and back into a hair band because he didn't have any. Harry had lost them all while packing his trunk and banished any that Draco conjured. Arsehole.

They were sitting in a compartment watching the school high on the hill in silence. "You still not talking to me?" Harry asked quietly. He turned to look at Draco. Draco was watching the school with an air of sadness. As if he didn't want to talk because he didn't trust his voice to speak. "What will it take to make you talk to me? Besides hair gel."

Draco's eyes snapped to him. "I – I can't believe we're actually leaving." He sighed to himself. "If feels like yesterday was my first day."

"Wow. We made up pretty quickly then." Harry smiled.

Draco laughed quietly. "Yeah. Make up sex is the _best_," he said with humour. They sat back as the train jerked and they watched the school disappear for the last time. Their hands entwined and they put their feet up on the seat opposite as the train curved with the tracks and disappeared behind a grove of trees.

An hour into the journey a knock came at their compartment. Harry was asleep when Draco checked, so he dislodged himself carefully from Harry's hold, putting down the book he was reading, and crossed over him to get to the door. When he opened it, he stilled.

Ron Weasley stood stock still as if not expecting him to be the one that would open the door. They stood staring in silence. An insult was on the tip of his tongue before sense came to the blond. He was supposed to be polite. If not nice. "Erm, Harry is asleep." There, that was polite, helpful and courteous all at the same time. He gestured behind him and opened the compartment door wider for the redhead to see.

"Oh." Ron had been ready to defend himself if needed and the change of tone made him uncomfortable. They both stood awkwardly, desperately wishing for a medium of communication here. All they knew were insults, but for the sake of one piece of common ground, currently snoring lightly with his mouth open, were making the effort to be polite. Though it killed them. He looked to Harry, his mouth was open and his glasses askew but he seemed alright, peaceful even in his sleep. Right. "I um, I came to talk – to both of you – that is. I came to..." He braced himself. "Apologise."

"To me?" Draco asked not quite believing it.

Ron looked disgruntled. "Both of you."

Draco nodded knowing where this was going. "Look, no offence, but this is not working." Ron looked at him confused. "I don't know how to talk to you without insulting you in some way and, frankly, all this skating around and trying to be nice to you – it's not going to last long, so I think we should converse as little as humanly possible. Yeah?" Ron nodded, grateful. "So... I'll just say this and from then on we'll avoid each other like the plague. Okay?"

Ron looked wary but nodded slowly anyway. "O-kay."

"Right. I hate you, you hate me, no shock there. But I love him," he said pointing behind him with his thumb to the snoring hero. "And as much as you don't like it, he loves me too. It shocks me sometimes even, but there it is." He paused. "Weasley, you are his best friend and I, though it pains me, I know that you are a part of his life that he _cannot_ and _will not_ give up if given the choice. I am willing to accept it so I am not asking him to choose. It's not fair on him, you or me. It was part and parcel when we got together anyway and I knew one day that this," he said gesturing between the two of them, "would have to happen.

"I also understand that I have had more time to get accustomed to this than you have and, therefore, it will take you time to get use to us as I'm sure it's not doing you any favours that it's me, am I right?" Ron nodded cracking a small smile despite himself. "I thought so. So listen," Draco continued picking up the book he was reading, "I'm gonna leave for a while so you guys can – _converse_ or _hug_ or whatever it is Gryffindors do. My presence will only distract you all and make it go south pretty quickly." He stepped outside so that Ron could enter.

Before he left though, Ron stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Erm. I owled my dad and-" He dug around in his pocket "-I asked him to get me these. I noticed your – well, they're gone and..." He gave up in frustration. "Look, it's a gesture of good faith. The guys in the tower told me that I'd have to do something like that because it backs up what I have to say. I figured the only way to let Harry know was to make it toward you. I'm not used to this and I probably never will be. But I know Harry as well. If he has chosen you as someone he wants to... well, I know he never does things by halves. If given the choice I don't think he'd give you up either." He held out a small package and Draco looked at it. "Take it, Malfoy." When he did, Ron walked inside the compartment nodded to him and slid it closed softly between them.

Draco stared at the door for a second before he began walking slowly down the corridor to find Pansy's compartment hoping she wasn't too entangled in Longbottom to distract him for a while. He loosened the string holding the bag closed and pulled it open. Looking inside, he stopped walking and broke out into a smile shaking his head. Taking out one of the many green rubber bands in the bag, he pulled his hair back into a pony tail thinking perhaps making nice with Weasley wouldn't be so hard.

~fin~


End file.
